World sport anti-doping chief says organised crime is spreading

Euronews

The man tasked with eliminating drug cheats from world sport says criminal gangs now control a quarter of all sport.

Speaking at a London conference on securing sport, David Howman, director-general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said solidarity is needed to ensure the “bad guys” don’t win.

“The biggest threat to sport is organised crime. Don’t let us compartmentalise it into match-fixing or bribery, it’s organised crime,” said Howman.

“Organised crime controls at least 25 per cent of world sport in one way or another. Those guys who are distributing drugs, steroids, HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and erythropoietin (EPO) and so on, are the same guys who are corrupting people, the same guys who are paying money to people to fix games.”

Delegates at the conference are also discussing the welfare of children in sport.